Dancing Around
by StoriesOfANobody
Summary: With prom coming up, April mentions she can't Waltz. Donnie volunteers as her dance instructor, although he doesn't know how to Waltz either. Luckily, Karai is on hand for an impromptu lesson. (Donarai pairing with a tad Apritello!)


**A/N: *chuckled nervously* I hope this is good. I haven't ever written Donarai.**

Donnie was good at a lot of things. If he didn't know how to do, he looked it up on the internet and taught himself. He schooled himself in many things ranging from how to make a paper airplane to how to split an atom. Most of his recent searches, however, were in the catagory of girls.

Naturally, when April mentioned she didn't know how to dance, the first thing he did was offer dance lessons. Donnie had quickly conceived a plan to win her affections. All he had to do was learn the waltz. That was easy enough to do for a genius.

"Error 404, page not found," read his computer screen. This made the fourth website he'd visited and he still had no idea how to dance.

Frustrated, Donnie clicked out of the open tab and did another search. The CPU whirred as it processed the order. Then another error message popped up, stating, "Internet connection unavailable."

"No!" Donnie whined, checking the cords. They were fine, but it seemed he had lost the WIFI he hacked into.

Groaning in despair, Donnie exited out of the web page. "What am I suppose to do now? Our dance lesson is in three hours! I'll look like a complete fool!"

He dropped his head on the desk.

"Having girl trouble, egghead?" said a teasing voice from the doorway. Donnie didn't bother raising his head.

"Go away, Karai, I'm busy."

She scoffed and took a seat on his desk, despite how many times he had told her not to.

"Busy rolling in self pity, more like," Karai pointed out, playing with the tails of his mask.

"Oh, what do you know?" He said. "And I told you not to mess with my mask."

Donnie swatted at her hands in annoyance. She evaded him, settling with one last tug at the ends.

"I know," said Karai proudly, "that you can't dance."

He looked up and she smirked. Quirking one side of his mask, he gave her an amused look.

"You don't stop eavesdropping, do you?" Donatello said.

"Force of habit, Gappy."

"Don't call me that," Donnie said flatly, as he propped his head up in his hand.

"Have it your way, lover boy. Anyway, I'm not here to argue."

"Could've fooled me," He mumbled under his breath, ticked off by the nickname. His brothers teased him enough already. He really didn't need his brother's girlfriend doing it too.

"I'm here to teach you how to dance," Karai declared. His expression went from surprised to suspicious.

"What's in it for you?" Donnie asked knowingly. She wouldn't willing offer her help without it benefiting her.

"What, I can't offer my skills to a helpless, lovesick fool and ask for nothing in return?"

"Not unless someone put you under mind control again," Donnie retorted. She glared and he knew he had gone too far. "I'm not an idiot. I know how you work."

"Fine," she said shortly. "Leo's a sucker for things like this."

He nodded, a grin twisting onto his lips. "Ah, now I see. It's all for Leo."

"Do you want my help or not?" Karai said irritably.

"Depends, how exactly are you going to help?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"C'mon, stand up," she said instead of answering. She got off the desk and waited impatiently for him to get out of his chair. When he did, Karai took his hands.

"All right, the first thing in the waltz is where you put your hands," she instructed as she grasped his right hand in hers and set his left hand on her shoulder. Donnie eyed her, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the contact. He never had been good with touching people. He was afraid to hold her hand too tight lest he accidentally hurt her, then he'd be in a world of trouble with Leo.

Karai nudged him. "Hey, I'm only going over this once. Pay attention."

Blushing, he straightened and met her eyes.

"My hand goes here," Karai said, setting her right hand on his hip. He shifted a little.

"God, you're just like Leo," he thought he heard her mumble.

"Relax, egghead," she ordered, stressing the words almost comically.

"I am relaxed," he said stubbornly. He forced tense muscles to loosen.

Rolling her eyes, Karai ignores him and continued.

"Step backward with your right foot."

He complied as she stepped forward. She ran him through the steps, which he grasped easily. It was just making a box with his feet; hardly any trouble for a genius.

Donnie alternated between looking at his moves and her moves.

"You're leading," he noticed. Karai paused, looking way too smug.

"I thought you wanted to teach April how to dance."

He glared at her feet. "I also need to know the male part if I'm going to dance with her."

They switched postitions and Donnie began to lead. He was proud to say he only missed a couple steps at first.

"Okay, since you got that part down, start turning about a fourth counterclockwise each box," Karai said. He stumbled and she caught him with their connect hands.

"Slow down, it's not a kata," she chastised softly.

"I know, I know," he mumbled, correcting his movements. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth.

Soon they were spinning around the room like old pros. Donnie actually perfected it enough that he looked up from his feet. He met Karai's gaze.

"I'm doing it," he laughed enthusiastically. She nodded.

"Yeah, you aren't half bad. But, the lesson isn't over yet."

He stopped dancing. "It's not?"

"Nope," responded the Konouchi. "April's probably going to do something like...this."

She moved her hands and looped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer. He blushed hotly. His hands hovered in the air uncertainly.

"And when she does, put your hands on her hips," she continued. Donnie cleared his throat. He hesitantly rested his palms on her.

Karai started their dance again, not waiting for him to catch up. Thankfully, the waltz was almost imprinted into brain now. He automatically adjusted his grip. They moved smoothly and almost in sync.

Donatello found himself staring. He wondered why he had never noticed how her eyes shined and twinkled in the fluorescent lights of the Lair. He caught himself wanting to brush that pesky strand of hair out of her face so he could see it better. Donnie had to bite his tongue.

"S-so," he started, cursing his stutter. "Where'd you learn to dance like this?"

The edges of her cherry red lips turned upward in a small smile.

"Places," she replied, golden eyes glinting as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

Donnie tilted his head. "Not vague at all, I see."

He blinked when she giggled. It sounded like a musical piece straight from Beethoven and he wanted to hear it again.

"I learned from Leo awhile back," Karai said. He frowned for a split second.

"This would be better with music," Donnie mentioned abruptly. He tore away from her to click a few keys on his computer. Slow music filled the lab and he resumed his spot.

Karai took a moment before she joined his movements.

He was staring again, but this time she was looking back. He watched her gaze flicker down a little then back up, suddenly darker. Donnie noticed the slight change in her breathing and the way her head tilted, lips parting just a little. He leaned in almost painfully slow, stopping when they were about three inches apart.

Karai's eyelids fluttered as she looked up at him through her thick lashes. His heartbeat sped up, blood pounding loudly in his ears. He waited for her to close the gap between them.

"I think you're ready to teach April," she told him, suddenly pulling away. Donnie stared, then dropped his hands to his sides. He took a step away from her, feeling somewhat put out and angry for reasons he couldn't explain. Had he really hoped she would kiss him?

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me, I have some work to do." Which was a lie, being as he had cleared his schedule for the day.

Donnie pretended not to notice that she looked at him questioningly. He turned to his desk and sat down hard in his chair.

About five seconds later, he heard her shoes clack against the stone floor as she walked out without a word.


End file.
